A common type of electrical connector includes a dielectric housing having a plurality of terminal-receiving cavities within which are mounted a plurality of terminals. The terminals may be stamped and formed metal components and include a mating end for mating with terminals of a complementary electrical connector assembly, along with terminating ends for termination to a plurality of electrical cables, wires or to circuitry on a printed circuit board, for instance. The terminals must be properly positioned within their respective housing cavities for proper mating with the terminals of the complementary connector assembly.
Improper installation of electrical connectors has long been a problem in mating connector assemblies. The mating assemblies may perform quite adequately under normal circumstances, but open circuits can occur when the terminals are not properly positioned within the dielectric housings of the connector assemblies or when the assemblies are not properly mated. In addition to open circuits, terminal retention also is important because of problems that can be encountered due to continuous mating and unmating of the connectors over the life of the assemblies. In addition, use of the connectors in vibration environments can cause the terminals to become loosened and improperly positioned. Improper retention of the terminals can result in unstable electrical interconnections.
Various designs have been used to improve the retention of terminals within electrical connector housings and to improve the mating integrity of the connector assemblies themselves. For example, regarding the mating connectors, plastic terminal latches integral with the connector housing often are used to enhance the mating integrity between the connectors. However, regardless of the integrity between the connector housings themselves, if the terminals are improperly positioned within each housing, open circuits, terminal damage and other problems can occur even though the connector housings are properly mated. Therefore, various devices have been designed to protect against improperly positioned terminals and, in fact, to prevent the connector assemblies from mating unless all of the terminals therewithin are properly positioned. Such devices commonly have been called "terminal position assurance" (TPA) devices.
For instance, a known terminal position assurance system in an elongated connector utilizes an elongated terminal position assurance (TPA) device extendable longitudinally through the housing. If any one of a plurality of terminals is not in its fully inserted position, movement of the TPA device is blocked and it cannot be extended longitudinally through the housing, thereby indicating terminal positioning problems.
One type of electrical connector which has presented problems in utilizing elongated TPA devices as described immediately above, is a connector which has terminal-protective silos projecting forwardly of a front mating face of the connector housing. The silos are arranged in at least two rows lengthwise of the elongated housing. A singular TPA device is extendable longitudinally through the housing in operative association with all of the terminals in the silos in both rows. The problem with this type of connector is its manufacturability. Specifically, the connector housing generally is open at both the front and back sides of the housing. Therefore, a pair of dies for molding the front and back sides, along with a slide die which slides perpendicularly to the front and back dies, are required to mold the connector housing. When such a slide die is used, the construction of the mold becomes more complex and thus expensive, and molding also takes a longer time. If the slide die is eliminated, the channel for receiving the elongated TPA device must be molded from the rear and front sides of the housing, leaving open areas between the forwardly projecting, terminal-protective silos. This weakens the housing between the silos, and the housing has a tendency to break when transverse forces are exerted on the silos.
The present invention is directed to solving the above myriad of problems by providing an electrical connector having forwardly projecting terminal-protective silos, with the connector housing capable of being molded by only a pair of front and rear dies, without leaving open areas between the silos which would weaken the housing reducing the strength of the silos.